THE WORLD

Israeli Train Hits Coal Truck; 8 Die

REVADIM, Israel — A passenger train plowed into a coal truck Tuesday and sent three cars tumbling off the tracks in a sunflower field in southern Israel, killing eight people and injuring nearly 200 in one of the country's worst train accidents.

Dozens of passengers were thrown from the somersaulting cars, and the wreckage was strewn across the field, far from main roads and cities.

In a country traumatized by years of Palestinian suicide bombings, officials emphasized that the collision was an accident, not an attack.

The comparisons were obvious. Dudi Greenwald, a medic who called Israel Radio from the scene, said he had treated casualties at several bombings.